Category: Awards

PSPA recognizes 2026 Clyde F. Lytle All-State Award Winners

3/18/2026

During the State Student Journalism Competition Finals on March 16, PSPA recognized the following publications with the 2026 Clyde F. Lytle All-State Awards:

Literary Magazine: Jabberwocky (Strath Haven)
Newspaper: The Panther Press (Strath Haven)
Online News Publication: The Panther Press (Strath Haven)
Yearbook: Campus (Kiski Area)

The Clyde F. Lytle All-State Award was named in 2012 for PSPA’s first president, Clyde F. Lytle, professor at The Keystone Normal School, now known as Kutztown University. One of the buildings on the Kutztown campus is named for Dr. Lytle. He became the first president of PSPA in December of 1925. In addition to his work in education, he is known for his collection of inspirational verse "Leaves of Gold" which remains in print today.

The path to these annual All-State Awards begins with a critique submission. In addition to receiving feedback from experts, submitted publications automatically become part of a statewide contest. During the critique process, each publication is ranked gold, silver, or bronze according to critique rubric scoring. All publications earning an overall gold award are sent on to a new judge, and gold-ranked publications compete against other gold-ranked publications to determine the Clyde F. Lytle All-State winner. Learn more about critique scoring here.

0 Comments

PSPA announces 2026 Administrator of the Year

3/18/2026

0 Comments

Mr. Andrew Neely, Altoona Area High School

The Pennsylvania School Press Association is proud to announce the 2026 Administrator of the Year Award, Mr. Andrew Neely of Altoona Area High School.

The purpose of this award recognizes an administrator who provides resources to encourage high-quality scholastic journalism or media programs; encourages a free student press; publicly recognizes and promotes curriculum courses in journalism and mass media.

After reading his letters of recommendation, the awards committee unanimously chose Mr. Neely due to his support of a rigorous and thriving journalism program at Altoona Area High School.

As shown in his required letters of recommendation, supporters for Neely wrote:

“When we were designing our new high school that opened in 2020, Mr. Neely made the communications arts a priority in design and resource allocation. This resulted in a professional grade television production studio, multi media lab, and equipment that enable unparalleled digital and print media. Whether it be our award-winning Mountain Echo newspaper, Horseshoe Yearbook, or MTV production, the communications arts at AAHS are unmatched in the state of Pennsylvania.”
- Brad M. Hatch, Superintendent, Altoona Area High School

“To have a student-run journalism program is an incredible feat. But to have an administrator who gives the students every single opportunity to grow, take risks, and achieve great things is another feat entirely. Under the administrative leadership of Andrew Neely, we have started social media pages for our journalism programs, written stories that a more restrictive administrator would have turned down, and won countless awards both for Mountain Echo and Horseshoe yearbook.”
-Madison Aboud, Mountain Echo Newspaper Editor-in-Chief
-Noah DiVentura, Horseshoe Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
Altoona Area High School

Mr. Neely was recognized as the 2026 Administrator of the Year at the State Journalism Finals at Penn State on March 16, 2026.

0 Comments

PSPA announces 2026 Journalism Teacher of the Year

3/18/2026

0 Comments

Samantha Corza, State College Area High School

The Pennsylvania School Press Association is proud to announce the 2026 Journalism Teacher of the Year, Samantha Corza of State College Area High School.

Ms. Corza is an educator who encourages a culture of growth and curiosity in her journalism classroom. She advises State High Publications, which includes award-winning print and digital content, daily live broadcasts, and a yearbook recognized at both the state and national levels. She also serves on the PSPA Board as membership director and coordinates the central Pennsylvania student journalism competition.

In their recommendation for Corza, student Ellory Potter wrote, “Her impacts reach every corner of our massive school… My life has been altered permanently by Ms. Samantha Corza, entirely for the better. She has taught me how to be resilient, responsible, hard-working, compassionate, and ethical in the field of journalism, and has done the same for so many others.”

Ms. Corza was recognized as the 2026 Teacher of the Year at the State Journalism Finals at Penn State on March 16, 2026.

0 Comments

NEWS

PSPA recognizes 2026 Clyde F. Lytle All-State Award Winners

PSPA announces 2026 Administrator of the Year

PSPA announces 2026 Journalism Teacher of the Year

Categories

Archives